Computers today have many means of obtaining input from a user. Today's computers have keyboards, mice, joysticks, microphones and many other devices attached to them in order to make their use easier. Some of these devices are easily manipulated by a user while others, such as the keyboard, may take time to learn. However, once learned, these devices present no difficulties to the user.
The most frequently used device in use by computers today is the mouse. The development of a friendlier computing environment, known as the Graphical User Interface or GUI, has fueled the demand for these cursor controlling devices. Many advancements have been made to make the computer mouse a more ergonomic and user friendly device. Some of these advancements include trackballs and touchpads which are not embodied as are typical computer mice; they do, however, employ the same principles for cursor movement.
Though these devices have been made more ergonomic, they still present certain difficulties in their use in some circumstances. For example, if the user of a mouse suffered from a muscle disorder, such as Alzheimer's disease, which prevented him/her from holding his/her hand steady, when this user tried to move the cursor in a straight line across the computer screen, the cursor would travel an erratic, typically sawtooth type path as a result of this hand shaking. For the situation mentioned above, should the user be operating a drawing program in which he/she is trying to trace out a smooth curve or to draw a straight line, quality results will be virtually impossible.
What is needed is a method and/or an apparatus for removing this erratic, cyclical, or repetitive motion, resulting in only the path intended to be traveled being traced out by the movement of the cursor on the computer screen.